More than one in ten calls to 7,000-strong organisation’s EAP provider made outside working hours, study finds

More than one in ten calls to 7,000-strong organisation’s EAP provider made outside working hours, study finds

When it comes to how staff access the EAP provided for them by their employer, usage statistics reported by warehouse, distribution and transport organisation Culina Group make interesting reading.

The group employs 7,000 people in the UK and Ireland and reports some fascinating findings after launching an employee benefits platform in 2016, followed in 2019 by an app that allows staff to access benefits via their mobile phones – useful for HGV drivers, for example, who may not get to a computer regularly.

As well as enjoying spending more than £600,000 on retail discounts as a result of the employee benefits package, the company’s research shows how the EAP service is used by staff.

Culina Group offers a 24/7 EAP helpline to support employees, and has found that more than one in ten of calls were made outside traditional working hours.

Breaking down the statistics further, the group reports that just under a third of these calls were to do with mental health, and around another third focused on legal support. A small number of calls were made to discuss finances and just over 10 per cent were about relationships.

EAPA chairman Eugene Farrell says: “These findings from Culina Group provide a really helpful steer to all of us in the EAP industry, that these types of benefits are genuinely valued by staff.

“Culina offers its 7,000 employees a 24/7 EAP helpline and it’s clear that staff have enthusiastically used this as a means of discussing a range of issues in their lives. It’s particularly interesting that the highest proportion of the calls to the EAP service – 31.7 per cent – were to do with mental health.

“It’s great that Culina Group are offering such a fantastic array of benefits to their staff, and it’s clear that the EAP helpline is particularly appreciated.

“Culina’s usage report also shows that more than one in ten calls to the EAP service were made outside of traditional working hours, showing that people are considering issues that they need help with away from the working environment, and are prepared to make that phone call to ask for assistance with a range of personal matters.

“This is what EAP can offer: a rock of support that means that employees need no longer feel alone with battling with problems in their personal lives, whether they are mental health problems or financial issues. They have a resource they can go to for help. Employers then notice the difference in productivity and staff morale, because they have taken these steps to boost the wellbeing of their workforce, both physically and mentally.”

You can see the full detail of the Culina Group’s findings here: https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/culina-group-spent-600000-benefits/